How to make Breast Milk Popsicles for Teething Babies.

Breast milk has numerous benefits. There are so many ways to use up extra breast milk, and the best of all is to make them into a Popsicle. Here’s how to make breast milk popsicles for teething babies.

Depending on the age of your baby, you can make frozen popsicles in different ways. My kids enjoy these cold treats. Unlike store-bought pops, breast milk pops are healthy, natural and do not contain any added sugars or artificial flavors.

Frozen popsicles are a great way to soothe teething babies. If you have noticed, babies tend to gnaw on everything when they start teething. Breast milk popsicles are an effective and safe teething relief.

At what age can you give your baby breast milk popsicles?

These popsicles are great for babies over 3- 4 months of age, who can exhibit some control to hold/ grab small things. Babies usually are good at grasping things when they start teething, which generally happens around four months of age.

In this post, I share with you age-appropriate ways to make popsicles for your little one.

Frozen Breast milk cubes in a Mesh feeder ( 0 – 6 months)

This is great and safe for babies under six months of age. American Academy of Pediatricians (AAP) recommends babies to be fed only breast milk (or formula) exclusively for the first six months and slowly introducing solid foods after that. For this reason, I recommend freezing breast milk in an ice cube tray, put them in a mesh feeder and hand it to the baby.

It’s easy, it’s fun, and it’s super safe. You don’t have to worry about any loose ice parts detaching itself, and there is no chance for baby gagging at the ice cubes.

I tried the munchkin feeder ( the exact one in the video below) , filled it with frozen breast milk cube but felt like it was messy. The ice cubes melted off quickly and poured all over the baby. I also found the mesh feeder hard to clean.

If you are looking for a mesh feeder, I suggest you buy a silicone feeder like this one from Boon or this one from Kidsme, these have a handles that are easy to grab, and the silicone sac is easy to clean. Both the brands are food safe silicone and BPA free. I actually like both, but I do like Kidsme bit better because it comes with a smart lock ( makes it easier to open and close) and comes with a cover for easy storage.

Important

Use only fresh breast milk to make popsicles. Never re-freeze thawed breast milk!

The mesh feeder is small and perfectly fits into tiny hands. My kids enjoyed this a lot. It also doubles as a sensory play, with ice cubes melting out of the mesher and keeping them diverted from teething pain.

3

Pacifier Popsciles :

I also tried the infamous pacifier popsicles. To make popsicles on a pacifier, you fill the ice cube tray with the breastmilk smoothie and place the pacifier over it. Place the tray in the freezer and wait till they freeze.

I should say that I was least impressed with this method.

I found the spoons worked better than the pacifier. The popsicle made out of the pacifier had a hard time attaching for a longer time. The ice cube would just come out of the pacifier, and I was worried my babies would gag.

May be if I used a medicine cap, like the one used in the video, it would have been more successful?

If you did, try this method, let me know how it worked for you.

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Ice cube popsicle with fruits or “Fruitsicle” ( 6 – 12 months)

Blend breastmilk and your baby’s favorite fruit together. Here I used strawberries and breastmilk. I used about 2 – 3 strawberries and 2 oz breastmilk to make four popsicles.
You can absolutely modify this recipe to suit your needs. Some fruits that will work well with breastmilk are:

Apples

Avocados

Bananas

Bluberries

Kiwi

Mango

Peaches

Strawberries

If you have just started introducing solids to your baby, keep in mind to mix only those fruits that has been tried before. Once your baby is ready to eat a variety of fruits, you can mix and match different fruits. There are unlimited options to try.

I found some small spoons in my kitchen cabinet that worked well as popsicle sticks. But, you can get small popsicle sticks or buy baby molds that I mentioned earlier.

I tried all the different ways to make breast milk popsicles, i.e using ice tray, pacifier popsicles etc., just as a fun experiment. At the end of the day, the I would rather spend a few dollars and get a good popsicle mold as the shape is designed to give better gripe for babies and the base is sturdy enough to hold the popsicle longer.

My kids really enjoyed the Nuby Popsicle molds. They are the perfect size and shape for babies/toddlers to hold and chew. The other two molds are more suited for older kids.

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Tasty Toddler popsicles:

Who said breastmilk popsicles are only for babies? Toddlers will enjoy these summer treats as well! Here is my breast milk popscile recipe that was a hit with my kids :

1/4 cup organic frozen Mixed Berry

1/4 cup thawed / freshly pumped breast milk

1 organic date/ honey to sweeten it up (optional)

Important

Please do not offer honey to babies who are less than a year old. There is a risk of botulism, caused by a certain bacteria type, when honey is given to babies less than a year old.

Blend everything together, pour them into a popsicle maker and wait until they are ready to enjoy. I used the Zoku Popscile maker and loved it.

If you have some money to spend, I highly recommend this one.There are a lot of variations you can try. Make a plain popsicle with just breast milk, or throw in some chunks of fruits in it or blend breast milk with your favorite choice of fruits.

The options are endless and it tastes so much better than store-bought popsicles, plus not to forget these are super healthy. This is the best way to use up all your frozen breast milk stash this summer.

Share your Thoughts!

Are you all set to enjoy these treats? If you don’t feel weird, you can try these popsicles too. Blended with other fruits you won’t even feel the taste of breast milk.

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